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Background: There has been a rapid expansion of digital health care services, making the need for measuring and improving digital health readiness a priority. In response, our study team developed the Mobile-Centered Digital Health Readiness: Health Literacy and Equity Scale (mDiHERS) to measure digital health readiness., Objective: We aim to develop and validate a scale that assesses digital health readiness, encompassing literacy and equity, and to ensure the effective use of mobile-centered digital health services., Methods: This study was conducted from October 2021 to October 2022 to develop and validate the mDiHERS. Participants included patients with inflammatory bowel disease, which is a chronic condition requiring continuous management, and experts in medical and nursing informatics. The scale development involved a literature review, focus group interviews, and content validity evaluations. A total of 440 patients with inflammatory bowel disease were recruited for the validation phase, with 403 completing the survey. The scale's validity and reliability were assessed through exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach α. The scale was translated into English by translators and bilingual and native researchers, ensuring its applicability in diverse settings., Results: The mDiHERS consists of 36 items across 6 domains, with a 5-point Likert scale for responses. The validation process confirmed the scale's construct validity, with 4 factors explaining 65.05% of the total variance. The scale's reliability was established with Cronbach α values ranging from 0.84 to 0.91. The scale's development considered the technical proficiency necessary for engaging with health mobile apps and devices, reflecting the importance of subjective confidence and objective skills in digital health literacy., Conclusions: The mDiHERS is a validated tool for measuring patients' readiness and ability to use digital health services. The mDiHERS assesses user characteristics, digital accessibility, literacy, and equity to contribute to the effective use of digital health services and improve accessibility. The development and validation of the mDiHERS emphasize the importance of confidence and competence in managing health digitally. Continuous improvements are necessary to ensure that all patients can benefit from digital health care., (©Hana Kim, Rebecca Schnall, Nagyeom Yoon, Seong-Joon Koh, Jisan Lee, Jae Hee Cheon. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 13.08.2024.)

Background: As digital health services advance, digital health equity has become a significant concern. However, people with disability and older adults still face health management limitations, particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic. An essential area of investigation is proposing a patient-centered design strategy that uses patient-generated health data (PGHD) to facilitate optimal communication with caregivers and health care service providers., Objective: This study aims to conceptualize, develop, and validate a digitally integrated health care service platform for people with disability, caregivers, and health care professionals, using Internet of Things devices and PGHD to contribute to improving digital health equity., Methods: The methodology consists of 5 stages. First, a collaborative review of the previous app, Daily Healthcare 1.0, was conducted with individuals with disabilities, caregivers, and health care professionals. Secondly, user needs were identified via personas, scenarios, and user interface sketches to shape a user-centered service design. The third stage created an enhanced app that integrated these specifications. In the fourth stage, heuristic evaluations by clinical and app experts paved the way for Daily Healthcare 2.0, now featuring Internet of Things device integration. Conclusively, in the fifth stage, an extensive 2-month usability evaluation was executed with user groups comprising individuals with disabilities using the app and their caregivers., Results: Among the participants, "disability welfare information and related institutional linkage" was the highest priority. Three of the 14 user interface sketches the participants created were related to "providing educational content." The 11 heuristic evaluation experts identified "focusing on a single task" as a crucial issue and advocated redesigning the home menu to simplify it and integrate detailed menus. Subsequently, the app Daily Healthcare 2.0 was developed, incorporating wearable devices for collecting PGHD and connecting individuals with disabilities, caregivers, and health care professionals. After the 2-month usability evaluation with 27 participants, all participants showed an increase in eHealth literacy, particularly those who used the caregiver app. Relatively older users demonstrated improved scores in health IT usability and smartphone self-efficacy. All users' satisfaction and willingness to recommend increased, although their willingness to pay decreased., Conclusions: In this study, we underscore the significance of incorporating the distinct needs of individuals with disabilities, caregivers, and health care professionals from the design phase of a digital health care service, highlighting its potential to advance digital health equity. Our findings also elucidate the potential benefits of fostering partnerships between health consumers and providers, thereby attenuating the vulnerability of marginalized groups, even amid crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Emphasizing this imperative, we advocate for sustained endeavors to bolster the digital literacy of individuals with disabilities and champion collaborative cocreation, aiming to uphold the collective ethos of health and digital health equity., (©Sandeul Ha, Seung Hee Ho, Young-Hyeon Bae, Minyoung Lee, Ju Hee Kim, Ju Han Kim, Jisan Lee. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 28.11.2023.)

Background: Most mHealth app users rely on an app's rankings, star ratings, or reviews, which may not reflect users' individual healthcare needs. To help healthcare providers, researchers, and users select an optimal mHealth app, the Method of App Selection based on User Needs (MASUN) 1.0 1 was developed and tested in prior research. Initial testing found the need for improvement., Objective: This multiple-phase study aimed to simplify and improve MASUN 1.0, resulting in MASUN 2.0, and verify the feasibility and usability of MASUN 2.0., Methods: This study was conducted in three phases: (1) modification of MASUN 1.0 to improve its importance, applicability, relevance, and clarity, in consultation with 21 experts in medical or nursing informatics; (2) validation of the draft MASUN 2.0, with 13 experts; and (3) feasibility testing of MASUN 2.0 and usability evaluation of the best app found through MASUN 2.0. Menstrual apps were used to test the framework., Results: From Phases 1 and 2, MASUN 2.0, the framework for mHealth App selection, was derived with improved simplicity, usability, and applicability through a reduced number of tasks and time required. In Phase 3, after screening and scoring 2377 menstrual apps, five candidate apps were selected and evaluated by five clinical experts, five app experts, and five potential users. Finally, 194 users evaluated the usability of the app selected as the best. The best app helped users understand their health-related syndromes and patterns. Additionally, user-provided scores for impact, usefulness, and ease of use for the app were higher than for others., Conclusions: This study successfully modified MASUN 1.0 into MASUN 2.0 and verified MASUN 2.0 through content validity, feasibility, and usability testing. The selected apps through MASUN 2.0 helped health consumers more easily address health discomfort. Future research should extend this work to an automated system and different medical conditions with multiple stakeholders for digital health equity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We reviewed the effect sizes of pediatric obesity intervention studies using mobile technology. Ten databases (Cochrane CENTRAL, CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed/Medline, KoreaMED, KMBASE, KISS, NDSL, KSITI, and RISS) were reviewed, and four studies were included in a qualitative synthesis. To obtain significant change in obesity-related outcomes among elementary school students, including parents and utilizing text messages in interventions are recommended. Furthermore, devices such as accelerometers may aid obesity management. A meta-analysis of four studies indicated that the mobile intervention positively influenced dropout rates but was ineffective for outcomes of weight control, exercise, and sugar-sweetened beverage intake.

Introduction: In this study, a health recreation program was implemented with elderly patients (60 years of age or older) who were receiving ubiquitous healthcare (u-healthcare) services. Furthermore, we examined the effects of health recreation on perceived stress, anxiety, and depression, by comparing survey results before and after the recreation program was conducted. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop an offline service with the ability to promote the impact of the u-healthcare service on mental healthcare. Materials and Methods: A health recreation program, consisting of a variety of weekly games, songs, and minilectures about mental health over a 10-week period, was offered at a senior citizens center in K-Gu, Seoul, Korea. This program targeted 18 elderly people currently receiving u-healthcare services. Data on the impact of the program on the mental health of the elderly were collected through surveys administered before and after the recreation program, and the results were compared with those of a control group. The control group consisted of 18 elderly people who were receiving u-healthcare services from the same district. Results: The perceived stress and anxiety of the experimental group decreased significantly compared with those of the control group. However, the program did not result in a significant reduction in depression. Conclusions: This offline health recreation program offered to elderly u-healthcare service clients contributed to the promotion of their mental health. Further studies will be required to better incorporate the offline mental healthcare program into their daily lives within the u-healthcare service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]